The present invention relates to an arrangement for production of sections cut out from a material web, such as sections for articles of clothing.
In the manufacture of articles of clothing in the clothing industry, work is essentially carried out in a cycle involving the following steps:
1. Determining the configuration of the cloth sections for the garments which are to be produced; thus the pattern work, which results in a number of garment sections for different sizes of different designs.
2. Positioning the pattern sections on a cloth web, with account being taken of the following factors
a. That each garment section receives the correct side of the cloth on the correct side of the garment section in relation to its position in the garment (many garment sections occur twice in the same configuration, but in right and left design) PA1 b. That each garment section acquires the correct turning direction in relation to the structure of the cloth (such as its thread direction, in order for the desired lie to be achieved). PA1 c. That, if the cloth is patterned and the garment sections are to have pattern matching, they are placed on the pattern of the cloth according to the pattern matching. PA1 d. That, where requirements a and b are satisfied and, in the case of patterned cloths, also c, an as economic as possible positioning of the garment sections on the cloth web should be achieved; thus, they will be set out together in such a way that the intermediate spaces, which constitute the cloth wastage, have as small a surface area as possible. In this connection the best result can often be obtained by the sections of several garments being mixed with each other along the cloth web or even being mixed with garment sections of another size or of another garment design. A mixing, along a defined stretch of the cloth web, of garment sections from several garments thus very often gives a better yield than is achieved by placing all the garment sections of one garment along a defined stretch of the cloth web. However, no further improved effect is obtained, in terms of the wastage, if garment sections are mixed from more garments than a certain optimum number. In addition, a mixing along an excessively long stretch is difficult to monitor.
3. Cutting the garment sections out in the predetermined position.
4. Gathering together, into a set, all the garment sections which are to be sewn together.
5. Sewing together of the garment sections.
It is of course desired that the said operations and the necessary transport work associated therewith should be carried out as efficiently as possible by mechanical means.
Prior art:
As regards the preparatory stages, patent publication GB 2,129,282 discloses data programming of the configurations of the various garment sections in a cutting apparatus which operates with an automatic cutter. Thus, in this connection, the garment sections are cut out from a cloth web and can thereafter be gathered together into the sets.
How the garment sections are to be positioned on the cloth web is determined manually, but it is known to use computer support in this respect. This means that, by simulation on a display screen, it is possible to position the garment sections on the cloth web, after which the computer provides information on what degree of utilization of the cloth has been achieved, and thereafter a rearrangement can be carried out manually etc with successive adjustment to a suitable degree of utilization of the cloth.
The computer program then controls both the shape of the cutting contours and their position on the cloth web.
Thus, the garment sections are cut out after the shape of the garment sections has been determined and programmed in a computer device, and also, thereafter, their position in relation to each other on the cloth web.
The cutting-out itself can be carried out as in the installations for mechanical implementation known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,136,048 and 3,572,202, by means of several layers of cloth being laid one upon the other, after which a cutting member is passed through all the layers In this way a number of identical sections are obtained, and such an installation is thus designed for series production of a number of identical garments. The cloth web is laid out , as is also known, on a cutting table by means of a carriage with a cloth roll moving across the cutting table while the cloth web is fed out By means of several movements of the carriage over the cutting table, several cloth layers can be laid out one upon the other.
As regards the cutting member itself, it is known, for example from previously cited U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,202, to use a knitting knife which moves up and down through the cloth layers. However, such a knife is subject to considerable wear and at the same time it requires very great sharpness in order to cut through the cloth in an acceptable manner. Other means have also been tried, such as lasers or water jets, but these have not as yet provided any advantageous result in the cutting of woven and knitted cloths. In the case of cutting equipment of this type, it is known to make use of the said computer programming of the cutting member.
It is also known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,385,956 and 4,462,292 to carry out automated cutting from a single layer of material. In this connection, cutting-out by means of reel knives has been described.
Previously cited GB 2,129,282 has also described the automation of the gathering of the cut-out sections for joining together in groups suitable for handling in the continued sewing operation. This, therefore, is the known technique in the field of the invention.
Furthermore, the sewing cycle itself has also to a large extent been automated, including the transport for distribution to various work stations All this, therefore, belongs to the known technique.
A corresponding technique can be used and has to a certain extent also been used outside the area of production of articles of clothing from cloth. Thus, for clothing articles, other materials are also used, such as non-woven cloth and foils, where welding often replaces sewing. It also happens that objects other than articles of clothing are produced in a similar manner and of similar material, namely bags, protective coverings, filter bags etc. A similar work cycle can also be used in even more divergent fields, namely in the production of objects of material from hard sheets, such as plates. The cut-out pieces are joined together, after having been brought together, in one or a number of consecutive work stations. The said applications, and others which lie outside the field of sewing, can also be included in the field to which the invention relates.
Technical problem:
Automation of the cycle described at the outset for production of articles of clothing and other products from the material web from which pieces incorporated in the product are cut results in an extremely complicated system. The automation can be carried out to a greater or lesser extent, and a number of variants can be chosen for the stages involved in the cycle. In the case of a total or extensive automation, there is extremely complicated equipment. The previously disclosed proposals and solutions, of which some have been mentioned above, constitute partial solutions within the cycle and are each aimed at specific solution variants.
There is, however, a great need to find other, improved solutions for achieving a higher degree of automation, simpler and operationally more reliable equipment, and overall high operational reliability in this area where a number of different materials are to be handled and different finished products are to be produced, these factors creating a risk of operational problems.